Colors
by kate882
Summary: The one where people don't see color until they meet their soulmate.


The world was a dark place. Everything was in black and white with shades of gray. There was no color. This was a depressing idea to some, but to Kuroko it was just how things had always been for him, and he didn't really care much about the colors described to him. He would experience them if and when he met his soul mate. It didn't really matter to him.

Until it did.

Aomine Daiki was light and color and honestly he rocked Kuroko's entire world a little when he showed up in a burst of navy blue followed by the orange of basketball. He kind of overwhelmed Kuroko. Everything had been so dark before him, and now there was color everywhere, and Aomine was a terrible judge of character who had terrible priorities. "Oh, you like basketball? Anyone who likes basketball can't be a bad guy. Also, nice to meet you; it looks like we're soul mates. Isn't all this color cool? Who knew a basketball looked like this?" Kuroko was vaguely concerned.

He and Aomine became practically inspirable. They practiced every night in the gym and ate lunch on the roof together. When Kuroko joined the first string, he and Aomine were partners.

Soul mates or not, Kuroko wasn't sure how he could ever not love Aomine Daiki. He didn't know how he had lived in a world without him before. The colorless world that had come before Aomine all seemed like a long prologue better skipped to get to the actual story, or a realistic dream. Was this how everyone felt when they met their soul mate? He was told yes, but how could they when their soul mate wasn't Aomine Daiki?

And then . . . and then something changed. Aomine started acting different. The colors of the world weren't as bright anymore, and neither was Aomine's smile. Kuroko wanted to help. He wanted the pain to leave Aomine's face. But he couldn't.

He stood there and watched as Aomine walked away from him. He lowered his fist, hating that he couldn't tell if Aomine's uniform was blue and white or gray and white anymore as his eyes followed the taller boy.

That night he cried into his sheets, now a dull blue instead of the vivid royal blue they had been, as he laid in his bed and wondered if the same thing was happening to Aomine.

He watched as all of the remaining color faded from the world as cold rain pelted him and Aomine. "I don't even remember how to receive your passes anymore." It was spinning through his head, and the colorless world seemed to be closing in on him. He had lost Aomine. He was standing right in front of him, but Kuroko had lost him. Not so long ago, Kuroko hadn't cared much for color and light, but as it was being stolen from him he felt it's loss like a wound. It hurt almost as much as losing Aomine. When he left he took all the beauty in the world with him.

Kuroko stayed on the team, mostly for Aomine, up until the championship game. For the second time he felt his world crumbling around him, falling to pieces around him.

He quit the team. He could see it in Aomine's eyes the next day. His eyes that looked black instead of the blue that Kuroko knew they should be. That the world had faded for him to. Kuroko had given up.

He wondered if any color came back for Aomine when he joined Seirin with the intent of trying to get Aomine to smile again. He pulled out his phone and stared at Aomine's contact, considering texting him to ask him about it. He couldn't make himself do it.

Kagami didn't like Aomine. Kuroko wasn't surprised. They were both kind of alike. Maybe that's why he had picked Kagami as his light.

In his first game against Aomine, Kuroko thought he saw the barest flicker of color. It faded in and out, and he refused to give up on it. They were losing horribly, but he wouldn't give up. Not when he could faintly see the blue in Aomine's eyes every time Aomine looked at him to see if he'd accepted his defeat yet. Not when Aomine was clearly waiting for the world to fade around him again, and looked like he was in pain at just the mere idea. Kuroko couldn't give up on him.

Kuroko wasn't sure why playing against Hanamiya did anything to his vision, but during half time he started noticing bits of color in the stands. He noticed Aomine walking back towards the stands and it suddenly made sense. Aomine was watching. And when they met eyes briefly Kuroko understood the message. _Win._ He nodded to let Aomine know he would. It appeared he wasn't the only one angered by Hanamiya's actions. He did win, but he didn't see Aomine after the game like he'd been hoping.

He watched his game against Kise, but didn't get the chance to interact with him then either.

Aomine's eyes looked even bluer when he saw him in the hot spring after declaring that he and Kagami would be the winners.

They met one more time at the hot spring after that and Kuroko voiced the question that had been burning in him for a while. "Is it happening to you too?" He asked quietly as he ordered a drink for himself from the vending machine they were both in front of.

Aomine shot him a surprised look before returning to looking over everything in the machine as if he didn't already know exactly what he was going to get. "You mean the color slowly coming back? Yeah. It's been happening for a while now, Tetsu. It doesn't mean anything." He ordered his drink and left.

He didn't see Aomine again until their next game. He was so focused on winning that he couldn't even think about the color that was coming back. It didn't matter. What mattered was making sure it stayed. Making sure that he could see the world as it had been before everything had been ruined between him and Aomine. He meant what he said when he told Kagami that he just wanted to see Aomine smile again, but he also wanted to see Aomine. Not just a faded version of him.

It felt right when he and Aomine fist bumped again. The world was almost as it should be, not just a shell anymore. But it wasn't quite there yet.

It wasn't until Aomine agreed to teach him to shoot that things finally looked right. He had to resist the urge to just stare at Aomine. He still had work to do if he planned on winning the Winter Cup with his team.

At least, he'd thought that the world was as bright and colorful as it got. That was before he and Aomine had gone on their first date after the Winter Cup. Before they had kissed, and Kuroko was never going to let himself lose Aomine again. Both he and the world were too beautiful to let them slip through his fingers a second time.


End file.
